Wednesday, November 26, 2008

NOVEMBER FARMER'S MARKET SCORE!

Saturday morning I hit up the Portland Downtown Farmer's Market for the first time in a while with my friend Michelle. I was restocking my empty kitchen and she was preparing for her vegan Thanksgiving Potluck, to which I brought my last post's pecan pie.  

I ridiculously cherish going to farmer's markets as it is, but I knew it was the end of November and had squash and potatoes in mind.  It has been a mild fall, and to our delight and wonder, we were able to a wider variety of produce than we expected - including bell peppers and eggplant. We spotted some cherry tomatoes but we're not crazy. 

My haul:


For under $14, I picked up:
- McIntosh apples: 50 cents a poud for my favorites!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- my first delicata squash of the season
- white eggplant
- golden beets, AKA the best beets besides the band
- 3 chanterelle mushrooms - couldn't resist
- 2 large bell peppers - 2 for $1
- kale $1.75
- fancy brine and oil cured olives - $3 for a small box
- broccoli $1.25/lb - sadly, I thought I checked thoroughly but I did have a long battle with my arch nemesis, broccoli bugs, when I got home.  warm water, white vinegar, repeat, repeat, repeat, cry, scream, repeat, check, check, check.

Michelle and I both got excited by these purple brussel sprouts.  We're both big studies of local vegetables and had never seen these before and were drawn in.  We looked at each other with astonishment and glee!

She almost bought a stalk, but then we learned that they turned green while cooking and we had cash to burn elsewhere...

Last stop - The All Mushrooms stand.  I couldn't resist buying those 3 chanterelles.


Lions Mane Mushrooms.  Purr.


Fried Chicken Mushrooms.


Onto some cookings.

Roasted broccoli and the last of my Vegan Brunch test kitchen chorizo.


Red Wine and Chanterelle Marinara

Baked Tofu Scramble with olives, bell pepper, garlic, spices and white mushrooms

After the farmer's market, Michelle and I stopped by Hot Lips for vegan foccacia slices.  
The slices had delicata squash, which was adorable and delicious.  I also had a bubbly Hot Lips apple soda.  

And thanks to Bianca of Vegan Crunk for the Butterfly award note!


Hello, long weekend.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

YAY! Everything looks great. White Eggplant?! Very cool..

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

DELECTABLENESS!!!

Congratulations on the award!!

mel said...

I HATE BROCCOLI BUGS!

Tami said...

You're like a broccoli bug magnet, I think.

I've never seen purple brussels either! It's too bad they turn green when they're cooked.

Those mushrooms! Oh man...and the marinara looks wonderful!

Anonymous said...

you got so much for $14! that's awesome.

Chelsea said...

I'm kicking myself for not going to the market now! Thanks a lot! haha

Enjoy the day tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

those furry mushrooms are crazy looks!!! i love them. they look like opossums for some reason.

DJ said...

You're so lucky, those veggies look AMAZING!! Bit disappointing that those purple sprouts turn green when cooked, though...

Anonymous said...

I love farmers' markets! It's like a scavenger hunt for tasty veggie surprises. ;) Weird-shaped eggplant, purple potatoes, ground cherries, odd little varieties of tomatoes...you never know what beautiful and yummy things you'll find. Hooray for your adventure!

urban vegan said...

Thanks for taking me along--what a great farmer's market you have. Reminds me of GreenMarket at Union Square in NYC.

I can't wait to go to the Reading Terminal Market later today. After a week away, we are out of everything.

jessy said...

that's a lot of awesome loot for just $15.00! wow! i've never seen purple brussels before - those are awesome! i've also never seen (or heard of) lions mane mushrooms. they look so neat! kinda fuzzy & cute, too! ahahahaaa! congrats on the butterfly award too, Jess! :D

Sarah P said...

what does one do with lion's mane mushrooms?! they look so cool!

Elizabeth Leigh said...

Great deals at your local farmers market! I love going here in the summers - and i save so much $$$ as well! never heard of purple brussel sprouts either - wow:)

Adriana said...

Who knew brussel sprouts could be so beautiful!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Purple brussels?! Even if they turn green, I want 'em! I haven't bought them on the stalk yet, is there really a difference?

annette said...

Ooh, I miss Portland's farmer's market SOO much! Nice pictures!

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